Apple’s iPhone 8 May Rock 64GB, 256GB And 512GB Storage Capacities With 3GB RAM

by Brandon Hill — Wednesday, August 23, 2017, 02:21 PM EDT

Today is Samsung’s time to shine in the spotlight with the launch of the Galaxy Note 8 Android flagship. However, that isn’t stopping the Apple rumor mill from working overtime, with the latest report hinting at three new storage tiers for the upcoming iPhone 8.

For a little background information, the current iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are available in 32GB, 128GB and 256GB storage capacities, with the iPhone 7 Plus 256GB SKU topping out at $969. According to a Weibo posting, the iPhone 8 will double up those storage capacities across the board to 64GB, 256GB and 512GB respectively. That’s right, half a terabyte of storage on a smartphone is absolutely bonkers.

However, some might ask why the need for so much storage when most people stream music and videos instead of transferring them to their smartphones directly using a USB cable? For starters, app sizes have ballooned over the past few years, and it’s not unusual for most apps to weigh in at a 150MB to 200MB. One of the most notable offenders is Facebook, which is a 345MB download for iOS and then sucks up another few hundred MB for app data. And then there are games like Real Racing 3, which is nearly 900MB in size.

And we can’t forget that many of us use our smartphones as our primary cameras. With the iPhone 8 reported to include 4K recording at 60 fps for both the rear and front cameras, your internal storage space could be gobbled up in rapid fashion.

In addition to the news on iPhone 8 storage capacities, it’s also being reported that the iPhone 8 will feature 3GB of RAM, matching the iPhone 7 Plus’ specs and bettering the 2GB found in the iPhone 7. That would still put it behind the 4GB included with the latest iPad Pro tablets and most Android flagship smartphone. The aforementioned Galaxy Note 8 incorporates 6GB of RAM.

Given that the current iPhone 7 Plus tops out $969, many analysts are expecting that the iPhone 8 will easily break the psychological $1,000 barrier due to its OLED display and features like facial recognition, wireless charging, and of course doubling up on internal storage. Apple could of course surprise us all by holding the line with pricing, but we aren’t holding our breath.

Tags: Apple, (NASDAQ:AAPL), iphone 8, weibo

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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